A state report says the number of released California inmates returning to prison has dropped this year by more than two-percent.

The report by the California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation says the reduction of two-point-four percent in the
recidivism rate means some 27-hundred fewer offenders returned to
prison. That translates to a savings of 30-million dollars.

The report focused on offenders who were released during the
2006-2007 fiscal year and afterward tracked them for three
years. Among the report's findings: Nearly half of the
released felons - and 85 percent of sex offenders-- who returned to
prison did so for parole violations, not new crimes.

California's recidivism rate now stands at 65-percent.
Despite this year's drop, that's still one of the highest in the
nation.